Because of their vast numbers and warlike nature, the Mongols, or Tatars, inspired much fear and dread throughout Medieval Europe. Even after various Christian missionaries and the Polos had provided information to the contrary, myths still enshrouded these invaders from the East. Some Europeans viewed them as pagans capable of the most horrific acts. The English historian Matthew Paris observed: "They are inhuman beings resembling beasts, whom one should call monsters rather than men, who are thirsty for blood and drink it, who seek out and devour the flesh of dogs and even human flesh." Meanwhile, others believed that the Mongols had already been secretly converted to Christianity by Prester John, the legendary ruler of a faraway kingdom, and that they were only waiting for the appropriate time to attack the Muslims. Sire Jean de Joinville, a French chronicler of the late 1200s, took...